Tex-Mex Squash Casserole from the Homesick Texan

Are you sick of zucchini yet? If you’re growing your own and perhaps in a foolish moment planted more than one like I did, you may well be! Having a variety is fun and they combine well in this Tex-Mex Squash Casserole but if you only have one kind, I’m sure it will taste equally good.

In addition to the fried zucchini I wrote up earlier, I’ve also grilled a ton, sliced into thick chunks along with onions and peppers. That’s a default vegetable side dish for me all summer.

I made bread and butter zucchini pickles that my boyfriend can eat a half a jar of at almost every meal.

I’ve made zucchini bread, of course. With mini chocolate chips added.

Then I used Eat Your Books to search through my cookbooks for more ideas. I found this Tex-Mex Squash Casserole in The Homesick Texan Cookbook.  It’s hard to take a pretty picture of almost any casserole but trust me and make this!

With tortilla chips and jalepenos giving it a Tex-Mex flavor, this casserole is not going to win any low-calorie contests but it will win some high flavor ones!

I mostly halved the recipe but used some extra zucchini. This filled a 9×9 pan, which is what I wanted. I’m noting her suggested amounts (halved) because I didn’t measure. I just kept slicing until it looked like it would fill my dish.

Print Recipe

Tex-Mex Squash Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 pound zucchini and/or yellow summer squash, sliced about 1/4″ thick
• 1/2 an onion, sliced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 Tablespoon flour
• 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 cup crushed canned tomatoes
• 1/4 cup half and half
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 cup crushed tortilla chips
• 1 cup grated cheese pepper jack and Cheddar ideally

Instructions

• Lightly grease a 9×9 casserole and preheat the oven to 350F.
• Heat the butter in a skillet and cook the squashes, onion, jalepeno about 10 minutes, until softened.
• Add the garlic, cumin, chili powder and cayenne and cook a minute. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
• Stir in the flour and cook a minute or so, stirring.
• Stir in the broth and tomatoes and cook a minute or so, until thickened.
• Turn off the heat and stir in the half and half, sour cream and cilantro.
• Put the crushed tortilla chips on the bottom of the casserole dish, then pour the squash mixture over them. Top with grated cheese. Bake uncovered about 30 minutes.

I’ve really been enjoying this cookbook. One of the first recipes I made was a jalapeno relish, which had a nice kick to it. Other dishes I’ve enjoyed so far include chicken-fried steak with cream gravy, Houston-style green salsa, chorizo empanadas, jalapeno pinto beans, Austin-style black beans, tacos al carbon, Dr. Pepper ribs, carnitas, Mexican corn, cucumber salad and Houston-style flour tortillas. I’m getting hungry again just typing that list out and saw several more recipes I want to try as I was leafing through the book.